Ninjas Under Fire
by MP1
Summary: Two regular Konoha civilians are sitting in a diner and having their weekly tittle–tattle session when a certain silver–haired jounin enters the scene. [KakaSaku]


**A/N: **Sakura is 19, Kakashi is 33.

**Ninjas Under Fire**

The Fujiwara's diner was relatively quiet for that time of the day. Two women in their mid twenties were occupying a table at the center of the diner.

"Have you heard about the commotion in Hyuuga household a few days ago?" Ayumi, the slightly plump woman with dark brown hair, leaned forward to her companion while popping a rice ball into her mouth, her voice sunk to a conspiratorial whisper.

"What happened?"

In front of Ayumi sat Suzume, a voluptuous, well-rounded woman with glossy black hair. The two women had been friends for as long as they could remember and today was the day they usually got together for lunch to catch up on each other's life and the lives of many peoples they didn't personally know.

Suzume's day had been bland and boring until Ayumi mentioned the tidbits of gossip about the elite forces of the Leaf village they called shinobi. Ayumi was always the best source for juicy stories. Her eyes gleamed with excitement as she was all ears. "Tell me!"

Ayumi munched the delicious rice ball thoughtfully. After swallowing the food, she finally said, "You do know about the heiress of that Hyuuga clan, don't you?"

The other woman pursed her lips. "Which one? From what I've heard, the head of the main branch has two girls."

"Yeah. There are two." Ayumi took a sip of her tea. "But I meant the older one, the one whose sensei is engaged to some jounin who constantly smokes… Ugh," her nose wrinkled in disgust as she gave a dramatic shudder of repulsion, "I don't know how she could stand a fiancée with a nicotine addiction. If I were her, I would break up with him if he refused to stop his unhealthy habit…"

"You're absolutely right, Ayumi-chan! Women shouldn't let men do what they want." Suzume nodded her head vigorously in agreement. "But anyway, what's with the Hyuuga household?"

"Oh yeah, I was going to tell you about that. What's her name again? Hani… Hinaba, Hanashi… I'm not sure…" Ayumi shrugged as if knowing the name would matter. "Anyway, I heard that she got knocked up by some guy! I don't know who the guy is, but he's supposed to be this worthless scum nobody cares about."

Suzume frowned in disapproval. "Really, little girls nowadays and their choices in men… But what happened next? From what I gathered, the head of Hyuuga clan is a very conservative man. I bet he's not too happy with it…"

Ayumi chuckled. "Suzume-chan, 'not too happy' is the biggest understatement of the century! I heard he went berserk and destroyed half of the mansion, then he locked her up in her room. People said that she hasn't been seen walking on the street since then."

"What a cruel guy…" There was a little bit of sympathy in Suzume's voice. "He shouldn't treat his daughter like that. Thank Hokage my father wasn't anything like that!" Chewing her own share of rice ball, she went on, "Speaking about the Hyuugas, have you ever seen the guy from the branch family?"

"The one with long black hair, a jounin? What about him?"

Suzume sighed dreamily. "He's so handsome… too bad that he's much younger than us…"

Apparently Ayumi didn't quite agree with her friend. "Hmph, if you wanna go for handsome, you should go for that Uchiha guy. By the way, I didn't know you had a thing for the young guns…"

"Of course not!" Suzume looked scandalized at the thought of going after younger men. "But it's a fact that," the door of the Fujiwara's diner creaked open then, "the young ninjas in our village--- oh my…"

Ayumi noticed the glazed look that suddenly took over her friend's countenance. "Suzume-chan…" Ayumi waved her hand in front of the awestruck woman, whose eyes were glued to the entrance of the diner. Failed to elicit any reaction whatsoever from her, Ayumi turned her head to follow her friend's gaze.

Then she understood what had had her friend enthralled as if she'd been put under a spell.

Just entering the diner was the finest specimen of the opposite sex they'd come across lately. He was tall and lean, the dark sleeveless shirt he wore left little to no imagination of what was underneath the garment. His arms were finely toned; muscular but not overly so. His nose and lips were perfectly shaped, his pale face smooth and unblemished save for the vertical scar ran through his left eye. The unruly silver hair could make every woman itch to run their fingers through the locks to feel its texture.

'_Yup, definitely a ninja.'_ Both Ayumi and Suzume's echoed the same thoughts. '_And a very sexy and gorgeous one at that…'_

Waking up from the trance, they saw his eyes sweeping through the room and blushed furiously as he seemed to be looking at their direction. His eyes widened slightly—the telltale sign of recognition—and then he smiled.

They swore that his smile could have melted any woman's heart. Only common sense and dignity prevented them from throwing themselves at his feet to worship the ground he walked upon. As it was now, they stayed in their seat while a wave of giddy feeling swept over them. Then Ayumi whispered to Susume while they kept their gaze fixed on the handsome stranger. "Is he looking at us?"

Much to their exhilaration, Sir Gorgeous—by now they had dubbed the handsome stranger that—seemed to be making his way to their table. Their heartbeat went erratic as he came closer and closer…

…only to pass by their table without so much of a glance.

The giddy anticipation vanished abruptly, replaced by hollow disappointment. They followed his every movement until he stopped behind a pink-haired girl who sat at the far side of the room. No wonder they hadn't noticed her before. She hadn't made a sound the entire time and her back was facing them.

Much to their dismay, Sir Gorgeous touched her shoulder as he bent over and kissed her cheek. They watched as she rose from her seat and launched into an angry tirade. He waited patiently until she was done and simply countered her outburst with a tender smile. He said something that was too soft for them to overhear. Then all seemed well again between them.

"Too bad…" Suzume sighed in disappointment as she watched Sir Gorgeous taking a seat in front of the girl. "I was kind of hoping that she'd get mad enough to leave him and then I could have him all for myself." She grinned unabashedly and went on in a hushed tone. "But seriously, how could I not have noticed her?"

"Yeah," Ayumi nodded slowly in agreement. "With such an obvious hair color…"

"A ridiculous color if you ask me…" Suzume snorted in disdain while keeping it to a whisper. "And what's a little girl doing here? Shouldn't she be at home studying?"

"Yeah, she looks so young…" Ayumi giggled at her friend's lack of attempt to conceal her dislike of the unknown girl. "And that hair color is just soooo…," her nose crinkled in distaste, "…hideous!"

Both women fell silent for a while before Ayumi started the next bout of tittle-tattle. "You know, that girl looks familiar to me. I don't think I could forget such a hideous hair color… Where have I seen her before?"

"Who cares about the little girl?" Suzume scowled at the girl's back in derision. If looks could kill, that girl would've keeled over and died ever since she found out that Sir Gorgeous had no interest whatsoever in her. "His feature screamed a name that I couldn't quite remember… Silver hair, vertical scar over his left eye… Ayumi-chan, how many men with silver hair are there in the village?"

"Not many, I guess." Ayumi shrugged. "That traitor who went over to Orochimaru's side supposedly had silver hair also, but I've never seen anyone else under the 40s with such a unique color." She suddenly gasped and murmured softly, "Suzume-chan, are my eyes playing tricks on me?"

"What's the matter?"

"Sir Gorgeous has a pair of mismatched eyes!"

Suzume frowned as she scrutinized the man more carefully. A realization dawned on her as she also noticed the blood-red pupil. Squealing in excitement, she leaned forward to whisper in Ayumi's ear. "Aaah, I think I know who Sir Gorgeous is."

"Really?"

"That red eye must be the famed Sharingan."

"The what?"

Suzume sighed. "It's a long story, but with that eye, you're supposedly able to kill your enemy on sight. Anyway, have you ever heard about our village's Copy Ninja?"

Ayumi nodded slowly. "I'm not really well-versed in the lore of ninjas, but I've definitely heard about our own Copy Ninja. Isn't he the one whose name has graced the bingo books for years?"

"Correct. And rumor has it that the Copy Ninja has a pair of mismatched eyes, silver hair… Go figure…"

Ayumi's eyes widened in surprise. "So Sir Gorgeous is _the _Copy Ninja?"

"Yep, the one and only. More tea?" Suzume poured more tea for herself and her lunch companion. "You'd never think that such a dangerous man could be so gorgeous…"

"But how do you know so much about him anyway?" Ayumi was curious about how her friend knew all about it.

Suzume chuckled. "You do remember that I've dated a few ninjas in the past few years… Well, one of them was a good friend of that Copy Ninja. And frankly, when inebriated, Genma-kun tended to tell a lot of stories. Too much, if you ask me…"

"Oooh, now I remember! I knew I've seen that 'O' symbol on her back before!" It was now Ayumi's turn to get excited. "That little girl is Hokage-sama's second apprentice! You see, I was in the hospital once and I think that was where I've seen her. Told ya that she looked familiar to me. Hmph, I'd never guess that a scrawny little girl like that is actually a shinobi. By the way, she called Hokage-sama 'Tsunade-shishou'."

"Really?"

"Yeah, then Shizune-san, Hokage-sama's assistant, told me that she has taken a second pupil. She must have…" Ayumi trailed off as she noticed the scandalous look on her friend's face. "Suzume-chan, what's wrong?"

"That little slut is Hokage-sama's apprentice?" Suzume frowned in reproof. "Genma told me that the Copy Nin had three students: the last Uchiha, that Uzumaki brat and a girl. Somehow all three of them ended up under the tutoring of the Sannin… We know Tsunade-sama is one of the three legendary Shinobi, so at some point in time, that girl must have been his…"

The implication hit Ayumi with a full force. "Don't tell me that she is dating her teacher...? This is outrageous! What kind of immoral behavior is this, a student dating her teacher? I bet she must have seduced him to get special privileges or something like that…"

"You tell me about it." Suzume snorted disdainfully. "Maybe Pink Slut seduced Sir Gorgeous as a desperate attempt to pass the chuunin exam. She doesn't look a capable ninja at all to me. Or maybe to get privy to one of his fabulous skills. The Copy Ninja is rumored to have known more than a thousand jutsu after all…"

Ayumi shook his head in disappointment. "Why did he have to fall for such an obvious trick?"

"Of course, no sane red-blooded male would refuse such a blatant offer." Suzume's contempt for Pink Slut—by now they had dubbed her that—was apparent on her beautiful face. "Or maybe she's using her status as Hokage-sama's pupil to blackmail him. After all, I heard that Hokage-sama could pack a really mean punch… He couldn't really be interested in such a puny girl! I bet he just uses her to warm his bed at night, or to vent excessive adrenaline from such a dangerous profession."

Ayumi laughed quietly, "Suzume-chan, that's a mean thing to say!" Then she grinned. "But you're probably right, especially since she looks so young. Men usually like younger women anyway. How old is she? Not more than 20 or something?"

Suzume tried to recall what Genma had once told her. "If I recall correctly, Sir Gorgeous is in his mid thirties."

"Exactly what I meant. I wish I could feel sorry for her, but that twit doesn't really think that he really loves her, does she? Poor girl."

Suzume sipped her tea while keeping her eyes trained on the object of her affection. "A man of his caliber deserves more… for instance, a real woman like me with real assets and all."

And with that she referred to her voluptuous and well-rounded figure, which she thought was far sexier than the scrawny Pink Slut. She happened to be very proud of her attractive physique and her beautiful face.

A thought suddenly occurred on the other woman's mind. "Hey, maybe you still have a chance after all."

"How so?"

"I see no ring, no passionate kisses, no groping… All they've been doing were just talking… It doesn't even seem like they are dating. Maybe it's just a lunch appointment!"

Suzume wasn't so sure. "Really? What about the kiss earlier?"

"It's a friendly peck on the cheek, dear." Ayame patted her friend on the back. "Men and women do that all the time, even when they're just slightly acquainted."

Suzume still wasn't convinced, but that didn't stop her from admiring Sir Gorgeous from a distance. "Would you look at his arms? Well toned and just the right amount of muscles for my taste. Wonder what's underneath that shirt…" She sighed dreamily. "I bet he's a great lover, someone who really knows his way with women." Then she averted her gaze from him and looked at the empty street outside. "Those perfectly sculpted hands… what would it be like to feel them on my---"

"Holy cow!" Ayumi suddenly choked on her tea and her shocked outburst jolted Suzume out of her daydream. Wondering what could have elicited such an outburst from her, Suzume followed the other woman's gaze and she found herself gaping in bewilderment at the scene that was unfolding before them.

The girl they had dubbed the Pink Slut suddenly slid into the empty seat next to the sexy stranger. Without further ado she kissed him squarely and soundly on the lips, engaging the man in what seemed to be an intense bout of passionate kissing.

Ayumi and Suzume were just at lost for words.

"Pink Slut…" Ayumi began with a shaky voice.

"…really is…" Suzume continued, still in disbelief at what was transpiring between the handsome stranger and the little girl.

"…kissing Sir Gorgeous…?" Ayumi finished, not without a hint of disappointment.

They breathed a sigh of relief as it appeared that she was about to pull away from him, but no such luck for them. Because at that moment the man suddenly grabbed her small wrist and hauled her onto his lap. Now that her back was facing the two gossipmongers, they could see his left arm snaking around her back, pressing her lithe form into him, while the other arm took hold of her chin and tilted her head upward.

Relief soon turned into horror as they watched Sir Gorgeous initiated another bout of kissing that was even more intense than before. By now the girl was running her fingers through his silver hair feverishly as she responded to the kiss with at least as much passion.

It could have been romantic if it had been a scene from a cheesy romantic movie, but for Hokage's sake, they were in a freaking diner in the middle of a very sunny afternoon! And it was a student smooching with her teacher—her much older teacher! The whole situation just felt so… wrong to Ayumi and Suzume.

And just when the women thought that the situation couldn't get any worse, their ears began to register soft moans that were definitely coming from the immoral couple. The girl's back was facing them so they couldn't see what his hand was doing to her, but they doubted that they really wanted to know.

'_That's it…'_ Their thought was the same in this. '_I think I'm scarred for life…_'

They didn't forget to thank whatever deities who were watching them that there were no children present in the diner, which happened to be empty save for the waitresses, the immoral couple and themselves. Said waitresses were also gawking at the couple openly, not knowing whether to be amazed or disgusted at their blatant ignorance of their surrounding.

No one took notice of how much time had passed when, much to everyone's relief, the Immoral Couple finally finished their making-out session in public and pulled apart from each other. His tender gaze as he gently tucked strayed pink locks behind her left ear would've sent the women go 'aaaaaw', if only the little show had been on television and not acted out right in front of their nose.

Still in a trance, they watched as Sir Perverted Gorgeous motioned Pink Slut to get off his lap and she did so obediently. Throwing enough money on the table to cover their bill, the couple slid out of their seat. All eyes were fixed on them as they casually walked toward the entrance of the Fujiwara's diner. The flush on her face and her swollen lips hardly escaped the unfortunate audience's notice, as did his smug grin.

The spell was broken the moment the door of the diner slammed shut. Snapped out of the trance, the waitresses went about their tasks.

"Tell me, Ayumi-chan…" Suzume began slowly as her brain was trying to repair the damage caused by the intimate bout of making-out just a few minutes before. "Do you still think that they were here for a friendly lunch-appointment…?"

Ayumi shook her head weakly.

The women sat in awkward silence for a while until Suzume said, "Well, that's too bad then."

Her casual remark managed to break the ice as both women laughed at their misfortune.

"Really, the nerves of those ninjas…" Ayumi smiled and ordered another plate of rice balls. "By the way, Suzume-chan, did you hear that weird pair of ninjas with hideously thick eyebrows? I heard that they…"

o-o-o-o-o

Sakura latched herself onto Kakashi's bare arm as soon as they were out of the diner. Her steps bouncing, she whistled a happy tune.

Kakashi darted a sideways glance at his giddy companion and said tonelessly, "I hope you didn't do _that_ just to spite those women…"

"Are you complaining?" She stuck her tongue out at him. "Don't tell me that you didn't enjoy it cause I know that you'd be lying. In fact," she jabbed a finger on his chest, "it was your fault that we got carried away. It was supposed to be just an innocent kiss…"

Kakashi raised a questioning eyebrow. "Oh really?" He was amused at her blatant lie as he recalled the not-so-innocent way she practically jumped on him and smothered his face with not-so-innocent kisses.

"Oh alright!" Sakura huffed in feigned annoyance. "It was supposed to be a… uhm… a…" Her cheeks reddened in embarrassment as she pouted at him, "You get the picture… but it's still your fault anyway."

"Aaa…" He scratched his head sheepishly. "Can you blame me? I happen to think that pink is a pretty color for women's hair… So you still want me to walk around without my mask?"

"Hmmm… I'll have to think about that." She ran her fingers over his chest lightly. "Because I will probably need to take _measures_," a suggestive emphasis on the last word, "to ward off lecherous women who think that a little girl can't keep her man…"

Kakashi shot her a pointed look. "But was the moaning really necessary?"

"Might as well, didn't I? At least they learned not to underestimate a ninja's sense of hearing." She gave him a cheeky grin. "Besides, I was just marking my territory…"

**- The End -**

**Author's Note:  
**Just so you know, the story about the Hyuuga heiress is absolutely untrue. We're dealing with gossipmongers here, remember? What really happened in the Hyuuga compound? I'll leave that to your imagination... :-)


End file.
